


Many ways to meet a man

by Keenir



Category: Elementary (TV), Sherlock Holmes (Downey films), Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ficlet Collection, Gen, In Uniform, Sorry Not Sorry, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, character death only in one of these, some are pre-slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21567202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keenir/pseuds/Keenir
Summary: What follows are several entirely unrelated ways that Sherlock Holmes has meet Gregson, some more AU than others.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Holmestice Exchange - Winter 2019





	Many ways to meet a man

**Author's Note:**

  * For [monkiainen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/monkiainen/gifts).



> I swear, one of these days, I would love to find the story that actually has that cormorant in it. :D

**SHERLOCK HOLMES & THE YOUNG GREGSON:**

Sherlock was beginning to suspect Joan was once again correct: _always suspect trouble when Irene is vaguely wording her promises_.

"You must be Holmes," the man with the slightly Irish accent said.

"I am. What of it?"

"Tommy Gregson," the big guy stated, thrusting out one arm aggressively for a handshake greeting.

"And what does a police officer want with me?"

"I was advised to cooperate with you on an upcoming case," Gregson said.

"Were you now?" Sherlock asked. _Irene, what are you doing? What game are you playing at now?_

"I asked around, and got some warnings to steer clear of you, and some mutterings bubbling up from carefully-nursed beers."

"Which tells you...?" he asked Gregson, curious what lesson the more solidly-built of the two of them had drawn from such advisory replies.

"Tells me not to bother asking you to mind your step, or to try reining you in when clues are in short supply. No skin off my back - I'm looking forwards to a long prosperous partnership full of arrests that no prosecutor could ever question the legality of."

Sherlock just looked at Tommy. "Are you certain you aren't confusing me for some other Sherlock? Or another Holmes?" _The great American Justice, perhaps._

"Nope. I just know how to read between the lines, and you're just what I've been lookin' for," taking Holmes' hand firmly.

_I...wait. Where did that come from?_

* * *

**SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE ANCIENT GREGSON**

The officers brought Holmes inside the humble rowhouse that was the soul of the modern police force. There, resting upon the ancient bed, was the living husk that was Sir Tobias Gregson, Order of the Garter, with awards for conduct known widely and heroism conducted covertly. "Glad you could make it, Holmes," he said.

"My curiosity was piqued by the escort and their request." _More the latter than the former, to be honest. I counted a dozen places I could have slipped my escorts, and five occasions that I could have overpowered them. But the opportunity to meet someone who is even more a legend than myself...well, how could I refuse?_

"A good gentleman," says the young woman by Sir Thomas' bedside. _Not a nurse; a grandchild grown, by the looks of it_.

"I do try." _'Very tryingly' as John phrases it._

"This' my daughter, Hannah," Gregson said.

_Not the granddaughter as I suspected. Am I beginning to miss a step, as John puts it?_ "She is -"

A papery hand raises and drops like a breeze tipped it over. "No flattery. I've heard it all, and from what I hear you don't do it well anyway."

_Some would be stung at a statement like that. I accept it as unfortunate fact - unfortunate as its a field of study and behavior I was never good at emulating._

"I called you here to call in a favor. I want you to teach Hannah what you do. Everything."

Sherlock nods. _I succeeded with John, and Mrs Hudson tried her hand at learning my ways._

"You know the favor, I trust."

_You saved Dr. Bell's bacon, back before his position in the scientific community was stable enough for him to take me on as a student. Even from as little as the good doctor mentioned you, I know the size and severity of what is owed._ "I understand what I am taking on."

"You sure?" Hannah jokes.

"Unquestionably," Sherlock replies. _Though your levity is well appreciated._

"Good," Gregson says. After a while, "Don't let me keep you two."

"I believe we have just been dismissed."

"To put it mildly," Hannah says with the air of one familiar with such handling.

* * *

**SHERLOCK HOLMES AND (THE WOMAN AND) THE YOUNG GREGSON II**

In disguise, incognito, he watched from the back of the church as the wedding proceeded. His eyes were locked upon Her, that masterpiece of control and covertness, that supreme feminine brain any man or god would covet.

...And he could not tear his eyes away from the chap that She was marrying. This man's features and manner of bearing proclaimed him to be Thomas Gregson, as much a friend to the Irregulars as Holmes and Watson themselves were. _She caught the eye of royalty, and now She marries an upstanding policeman_.

'Know Thyself' proclaimed the Skeptics, the religious, and a great many others down the trail of history...and it was one thing Sherlock Holmes had sanded himself smooth with, to avoid rough edges that would catch at contradiction and prevent his subtler motions. (the rough edges in social situations, those were another matter entirely). And Holmes knew he was better with Irregulars than most anyone else; that he could bend the knee and catch the hankerchief like any red- or blue-blooded man, but it was not matters of the heart that led him to or fro at any time.

And yet... _And yet I would not mind witnessing these two for however long. What adventures we might have, we three - five if John and Mary deign to accompany us. What sights might we behold and at what hours? Where might we venture? What mysteries would our minds produce the answers to?_

And a logical conclusion settled in his mind: _Just as She is She, he can only be He._

* * *

**SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE COP**

"Holmes, huh?"

Sherlock looked up at the officer who was asking this. "That is my surname, Lieutenant," taking care to pronounce the title to its full British sound, having since learned how Americans react to what they deemed a mispronounciation.

The man didn't so much as blink, much less issue a correction. "Fancy meeting you here."

"How so?" Sherlock asked, taking the bait if indeed that were a lure.

"Figured you'd show up at a murder in my precinct eventually. Never thought you'd be the suspect, though."

"One must always be prepared for all evenualities, Lieutenant," pronouncing it with the proper New Yorker accent this time.

"Yeah, and does that include being prepared for being the prime suspect?" he asked with a half grin.

_His is certainly a kinder retort than Lestrade would have handed me._ "To err is human," Sherlock said.

"And to forgive is for the courts and the victim's family. Tommy Gregson - I'd shake your hand, but you haven't been dusted yet."

"Rain check, then."

"Lookin' forward to it. Maybe next time, we can actually get some work done, together, 'stead of keeping you under guard."

_Not my first time,_ Sherlock mused, but opted it wiser to not say so.

* * *

**SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE COMMANDING OFFICER**

"You wanted to see me, Captain?"

"I did. Sit," Captain Gregson says, not moving from behind his desk. Once the new officer Holmes sat, "I asked around 'bout you."

_Naturally. To do otherwise would be unlike you._

"By all accounts, you're a big name over in England. Lestrade and friends send their regards, by the way."

"You're wondering why I came here," Sherlock said.

"Not so much, no," Captain Gregson said.

Because you don't care or...? "Then what can I tell you?"

"Why you're suddenly signing up. Ev'rybody I talked to, they all insisted I had the wrong guy - 'no way in fuckkin hell would Holmes do policework' as one officer put it. Thats why you're in my office right now."

_A solid question, I admit, given my past ways. And its those past ways that led me to come here to this far shore. But it isn't enough, I recognize that._ _I needed something to keep my nose clean, literally. I need to keep more than just my mind sharp: I need my fingers occupied. And if that means pounding the beat or pencil-pushing paperwork, then so be it. But I need to be near the refreshing puzzles of crimesolving, as I can't trust sex or any other purely physical outlet to keep me out of trouble._

"Well?"

"I felt I needed a change of atmosphere, and when I arrived within your precinct bounds, I decided to do a thing I have never done before. I have been an advisor, yes, to Scotland Yard and other governmental and non-governmental bodies. But never before have I worn a uniform as anything other than a disguise." _Or a costume, or a suit and tie._ "So I entered the noble profession of the hounds."

"Origin of the word for sleuths," Captain Gregson says flatly. "We get history books over here too."

"Apologies - longstanding habit of mine to drop obscure references from time to time."

"Understood. Try not to habit while you're on duty, hear me?"

Sherlock nodded.

"Dismissed."

But, as the new officer was about to set a hand on the doorknob, "One last question," Gregson said.

"Yes?"

"What kinda name is 'Sherlock'?"

* * *

**THOMAS GREGSON AND THE DEAD GUY**

She walks right up to him at this wake, _walks like she owns the place,_ and says "You're Commander Thomas Gregson," her voice holding concern like its water for thirsty travelers.

"That's me, ma'am. Can I help you?" _Hang on, I know - no, I recognize her._ "Dr. Joan Watson, right?"

She nods.

"So how'd you recognize me? I come up in one of your cases?"

"No," Joan says. "Towards the end, Sherlock managed to find a soulmark that matched his other one. He was hoping to solve this current case before he introduced himself." _And then this case tumbles ass over teakettles, and I mayyyyy have been slightly aggressive in bringing it to a conclusion._

Gregson narrowed his eyes. "You gotta be shitting me." _Its not exactly a state secret that I've got two soulmarks - some people do, some don't, and some don't even get one til they turn a corner in their lives. Hannah's mom, bless her heart, told me she'd welcome into our house whomever has a match to my other mark - so long as I don't treat it like a midlife crisis, grow my hair long and buy a car I can't afford._

"I'm sorry," Joan says, fully meaning it, placing one hand on his arm. "If you need to talk..." she offers.

"Another time?" Gregson asks, to which she nods. He heads over to the casket, understanding now why his commanding officer had said his presence had been requested. "Nice to meet you," Thomas says to the long face lying there.

* * *

**THOMAS GREGSON AND THE POSSIBLE SECOND SOULMARK (II)**

As morning came to the City, _I thought I was glad to have Joan in my life - and then I see how pleased Hannah is to know her too. Granted it all started because somebody thought Joan and I had matching soulmarks...only we don't - one's a cormorant and the other's an anhinga: two snake-necked birds that get along like a house on fire, which is also where we met. Still, I don't care that our soulmarks don't match - we're two people who love each other very much._

"You should get ready, Thom," Joan says.

"Oh?" he asks, nuzzling her silk-smooth neck.

And then there's a chirp, followed by a request for his presence at a house.

"One of these days, you're gonna tell me how you do that," Gregson says, planting one last nibble on her ear before he starts putting his other shoe on.

"The odds were pretty good that you were going to get called in when we start doing something," Joan says innocently.

"Sure they were. So, you're heading to Hemdale today?"

She nods. "I think there's enough wiggle room for the two of you to meet. He was a private detective or consultant in England until recently."

"Sounds like a useful somebody to know. I'll try not to drone on with work if the three of us have dinner."

"Same here. I'll see if I can get him out of the house before the weekend," _as not everyone likes to venture out and about on their first days outside places like Hemdale._


End file.
